The Essential Sia Playlist

Ok, we hold our hands up and acknowledge that we've left out two of Sia's best-loved songs, 'Breathe Me' and 'Chandelier', out of this so-called essential playlist, but - tell you what - there's so much more to the antipodean songsmithstress and her discography than them two admittedly monster tunes and we wanted to focus on other tracks you may inadvertently have missed out on or forgotten about.

Ok, we hold our hands up and acknowledge that we've left out two of Sia's best-loved songs, 'Breathe Me' and 'Chandelier', out of this so-called essential playlist, but - tell you what - there's so much more to the antipodean songsmithstress and her discography than them two admittedly monster tunes and we wanted to focus on other tracks you may inadvertently have missed out on or forgotten about.

In the spirit of candour, we must also confess that we're not big fans of Sia's 1997 debut (as Sia Furler), OnlySee, so we've not included any parts of it on this list. If there's any other glaring omission, do feel free to give us grief in the comments below.

'Buttons'

We begin with Hilarious Sia (as opposed to Sombre Sia which, rest assured, follows next). Some Sia videos are unadulterated lessons in lolz and this one is an instance in point. It was a kind-of single which ended up tucked at the back-end of 2008's album, Some People Have Real Problems, as a bonus track and it therefore tends to be unjustly overlooked. There's a good CSS remix knocking about on the internet if you're interested but, as is often the case, it's the original version that's worth the dollar.

'Don't Bring Me Down'

Sia's best album remains 2004's Colour The Small One, which had the right balance between accessibility and non-compromising idiosyncrasy, combining straightforward pop and moody melancholia, as is usually exemplified by the (deservedly) ubiquitous 'Breathe Me'. We've chosen to showcase the first single from the album (also our first Sombre Sia choice), the sumptuously heart-wrenching 'Don't Bring Me Down'. If you can get hold of the four-track EP it initially came out on, you're in for a treat with additional three non-album tracks of equal brilliance.

'Destiny' (Zero 7 feat. Sia and Sophie Barker, remixed by Fred Falke)

Remember chill-outs? Well, there you go. We're listing the Fred Falke remix here because it did a stellar job of updating an amazing song which we thought could never age but sadly has a bit. And yes, Sia is singing: "I'm watching porn in my hotel dressing-gown."

'Big Girls Cry'

It's hard to top the chorus of 'Chandelier' but, in a completely different way to its predecessor, this next 1000 Forms of Fear single* is as catchy as a ridiculously catchy thing. A definite highlight moment on the new album.

*We think it's officially a single but who the hell knows these days

'Girl You Lost To Cocaine'

While the title may suggest otherwise, we're back on Hilarious Sia territory with this one. You can imagine just how much fun Sia and crew had filming the video. Oh, and stick with it to the very end because it gets quite clever in an OK GO sort of way.

'Clap Your Hands'

Staying with Hilarious Sia for a little longer, this was the first single from We Are Born and is yet another example of why everybody and their gran now ask Sia to write their comeback singles for them: she just has a knack for an infectious tune. How this wasn't a humongous hit in every territory where popular music is mollycoddled is beyond us but someone should definitely look into it. The video is, again, pure chuckles. Fred Falke did a great remix of this track as well so check it out at your leisure.

'You Don't Know (Will Young)'

One of Sia's first co-writes for a high profile artist and a bloody amazing ballad it was too.

'Taken For Granted'

A lot of people forget 'Taken For Granted' exists but as soon as you hear the hook you'll go "oh yeah!". This was one of the peak points on 2001's Healing Is Difficult.

'Soon We'll Be Found'

Another wondrous Sia ballad with a fantastic video to boot. Sia actually did quite a lot of promo around the release of this single and its parent album, Some People Have Real Problems, and you can find some beautiful live performances of this song on YouTube.

'Titanium' (cover by Minute Taker)

David Guetta first got Mary J Blige to do the vocals on this but the released version (co-written by Sia) ended up with Sia singing the whole thing. You've all heard it a million times so, instead, here's a very good cover version by Minute Taker, a singer-songwriter from Manchester whom we've championed here on The 405 quite a lot in the past 18 months.

'You've Changed'

Another corker from We Are Born. We love Happy SiaTM.

'Numb'

The fourth and final release from Colour The Small One and one of the best compositions on the record. The single version got a bit of a re-working and actually benefitted from it but we can't find it in HQ for you. Sad emojis all over the place.

'Paranoid Android' (Radiohead cover)

When the 2006 Radiohead tribute album, Exit Music, came out many hated on Sia's rendition of this OK Computer classic but it makes for a fresh, interesting interpretation and, funnily enough, you can actually understand some of the lyrics for a change (which is ironic, seeing as Sia is not known for having the best singing enunciation).

'Elastic Heart'

Taken from the soundtrack for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire this song has also found a place on 1000 Forms of Fear and a good thing it is too, as it is most certainly up there with top Sia classics. We've included the recent live performance of the track on Jimmy Kimmel.